Theme and What is it?

A new world has been discovered and the intergalactic community is excited to get the classifications of its inhabitants. As a member of this esteemed organization you have been dispatched with others to take on the task. While you’re all working to the same end, the most prolific of you will earn accolades, grants, and awards. Can you name and collect the most sets of species, avoid local authorities, and deal with the interference of…farmers? Will you be the best of your colleagues at identifying the creatures of…Earth? Seriously? They named their planet after dirt.

Unidentified Farm Organisms is a speed memory game where player attempt to quickly call out the names of different species.

Gameplay Mechanics

Unidentified Farm Organisms focuses on two aspects, speed and memory. At the beginning of the game players will be assigned a type of farm animal that they will name. Then a deck of creatures is revealed one at a time and players must call out the correct name of the species revealed. The trick is that depending on other factors on the card you have to either call out the Earth name of the species or the name you gave it. Some of the things that effect what you call out are based on other images on the card. If Old MacDonald appears on the card you only capture it if you call out the original Earth name. Mary MacDonald rewards you the card if you call out the alien names. The Men in Black on a Card forces you to yell the correct name of any other card.

When you successfully collect a card then you can match it with another other gender version of the card as a mating pair. You can also match cards featuring Mary and old MacDonald. Gathering a pair allows you to turn the cards face down and protect them from being stolen or lost.

In the end the player with the most collected specimens is the winner.

Initial Impressions

I wasn’t really sure what to make of this game. The rules were a little choppy for my group and felt like they over explained things. In honesty, I felt the game was more geared towards a family game.

Game Build Quality

The card quality for this game is very impressive. I thought everything was nicely manufactured and sturdy. Considering that you will be flipping and slamming cards down quickly they made them quite durable. I appreciate all of the work they did here.

Artistic Direction

The art is cartoony and clear. Since the game is about identifying creatures and calling out their names they did a good job on the card art. The creatures all have a counterpart that is very similar in design so you will have to take a second glance from time to time to be sure you’re guessing the right creature. The MacDonald’s are distinct but similar enough that you have similar troubles. These are features of the game. I will say that the Men in Black are a bit dark and if you’re not playing in a well-lit room you may have trouble picking them out on the card. In our first game we didn’t realize they were there as often as we’d like. Even taking a closer look at some of the cards made it difficult to spot them.

Fun Factor

This is a high energy speed game. You yell out funny words and phrases to collect the creatures. In one game we had to choose between yelling chicken or Vivian. There’s a lot of fast play and frantic stumbling as you try and cycle through what you should be calling out.

Age Range & Weight

The game is rated 6+ and I’m pretty sure this is the sweet spot for it. The game is a little outside of what my friends and I enjoyed. I think it will be a huge hit with kids. The funny names and yelling will go over well with that crowd.

This is a light weight game. It’s designed to be played in-between other games while you’re waiting.

Conclusions

Unnamed Farm Organisms is a fine game. I think people will enjoy it and it will go over well with kids. The problem for me is that the game is easily dominate by one or two people. I’m not a particularly fast person and playing a game that relies on that as its core leaves me in the dust. Most of the other adults at the table were also having similar issues. That’s sort of the problem with these types of games. A single player can roll over everyone else at the table.

That said, I think this is a great game for kids. It teaches thinking on your feet, attention to detail, and memory. Add in the humor of calling a chicken Vivian, Fingers, or fart then you have the things that make kids smile. This will be a good game to play with the little ones in your life and just have a good time.

For the effect on kids I recommend this game. You may even have some fun playing it with adults, but for me it just wasn’t there.

I always recommend you try before you buy. This is a game I think you should try with the kids. They’ll probably love it.

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